Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Will the reverberations from Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey change the Monarchy? Is this a passing PR crisis or an existential moment for the Monarchy? And how do you carry out an inquiry into an institution as impenetrable as “the Firm”? Plus, as schools return en masse, can we rely on the £37bn Test and Trace system when inquiries have shown it to have made little to no contribu...

The highest level of public debt and highest tax burden since the late 1960s, the first increase in corporation tax since 1974, the largest net tax rise since 1993…   In this special edition of Inside Briefing, IfG chief economist, Gemma Tetlow, is joined by IfG senior economist Tom Pope, and IfG senior fellows Jill Rutter and Giles Wilkes to trawl through the details of Rishi Sunak’s second budge...

Business was taken aback when Rishi Sunak raised its tax bill in this week’s Budget – but the sums Sunak is dealing with are eyewatering. Is there enough in his plans for tapered support and delayed tax to stimulate a post-COVID recovery? Will a country that’s been sold on “levelling up” accept higher taxes by stealth and lowered living standards? Plus: what on earth is going on with Sturgeon vs S...

On 3 March, Rishi Sunak will deliver his second Budget – almost a year on from the moment the government took the unprecedented step last spring to lockdown the country. With a third lockdown still in place, how will the chancellor deliver on Boris Johnson’s promise that the government will “continue to do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the UK”? What will the Budget do to...

As we pass a year since the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the UK, the Institute for Government is delighted to welcome Tony Blair, Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to reflect on the last 12 months – and look ahead to the lasting impact of the pandemic and the challenges this poses for politici...

Is new-look, cautious Boris Johnson’s step-by-step plan for unlocking too timid, or is it over-optimistic? Are vaccine passports workable, let alone defensible from a civil rights perspective? And if Rishi Sunak will do “whatever it takes” to get the economy back on its feet, what can we expect from next week’s COVID Budget? Plus: just how many czars do we need? This week’s special guest is Ben Ri...

Ahead of the Prime Minister producing his new ‘roadmap’, we discuss the plans, priorities and politics for lifting the lockdown. Does the government know what its objectives are? What does ‘data, not dates’ mean in practice? What still needs to be done and what should we look out for when the plan lands?   In this edition of Inside Briefing Extra, IfG Senior Fellow Dr Catherine Haddon is joined by...

As the Government prepares for the huge leap of unlocking, can it manage expectations from both a weary public and its own restive MPs? Rishi Sunak is about to announce potentially the most painful budget in a decade. Can he pull the Tories’ pre-COVID policy aims out of deep freeze? And how will Conservative MPs feel about “building back better” with more social housing in their own constituencies...

The government has published its plans for reform of the NHS, with the first health service white paper in a decade setting out a series of major reforms. So what is the government trying to achieve and what would it mean for the NHS? Is this really the moment, with the NHS still reeling from the demands of the coronavirus crisis, to introduce major reform? What has the pandemic revealed about how...

Will the Government’s draconian plans for quarantine for travellers really work? How can ten years in prison and £10,000 fines be proportionate to the offence? And why can’t the Government get its line right on whether we can or can’t go on holiday this year? Plus, what are we learning from the unfolding story of vaccine success in the UK and comparative failure in the EU? Is Global Britain going...

Borders is borders? Impact from the EU’s aborted triggering of Article 16 of the NI Protocol continues to reverberate. Could the UK government really use this episode to tear up their own border agreement? Special guest Tony Connelly, RTE’s Europe Editor and co-presenter of the Brexit Republic Podcast, joins us to explain the Byzantine nature of the Border Protocol. Plus: ahead of COP26 and the If...

If now is not the time to learn lessons from the COVID crisis, when is? We’re joined by writer, broadcaster and host of the Rock’n’Roll Politics podcast Steve Richards to discuss No.10’s painful learning curve and ask if Boris Johnson’s promised public inquiry ever actually happen. Plus, what have the extraordinary 12 months we’ve just lived through meant for the efficacy of government? The latest...

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event The Institute for Government hosted the annual lecture by Bronwen Maddox, its director. In her speech, Bronwen looked at the government’s performance in the extraordinary circumstances of 2020 and what 2021 might bring. Her discussion was followed by a response from Professor David Runciman and the event was chaired by Sir Richard Lambert. #IfGDirect...

What’s the reality of No.10’s control over government? Is our supposedly superpowered centre really strong enough to command all the organs of state? Do we have too many generalists and too few specialists, and do we even need Special Advisors? Nick Timothy, Theresa May’s former Chief of Staff, joins us to look at the dismal science of “deliverology”. Plus, what will Joe Biden’s arrival mean for B...

COVID is on the verge of overwhelming the NHS but Britain is at least vaccinating faster than almost any other country. Almost a year since the first lockdown, is the Government’s pandemic response gaining any traction yet? And how did the Government come to OK the “abysmal” food parcels distributed to families in need? Plus, will local, national and mayoral elections actually go ahead this year?...

The insurrectionary riot in Washington DC has shocked the world. What does it tell us about the fragility of democracies who come up against leaders who reject the rules, fire up popular anger, and trash the institutions that hold up the system? Plus, with the Government still on the back foot over COVID, will the vaccine roll-out lead to some semblance of normality for Britain? And what might 202...

A special cross-post from our IFG LIVE feed. The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement was published on Christmas Eve, just a week before the transition period was due to end. So what does the deal mean for the UK – and for its relationship with the EU? What will change for businesses? How will data be shared? Will the EU and the UK continue to work closely on security issues? How was the contenti...

We’ve all had quite enough reality for one year. In an IfG Christmas special, we ask what fictional and fantasy worlds can teach us about governing. What does the collapse of the Republic in Star Wars tell us about Brexit? Does the Harry Potter universe need drastic democratic reform? In the real world, who nails life in government better: Borgen or The West Wing? And where’s the Public Inquiry in...

From Barnard Castle to Brussels, from Wuhan to the White House, it has been a year of unprecedented challenges, impossible choices, huge governmental gambles and astonishing mis-steps. Will 2020 prove to be a wild aberration or a turning point for the business of British government? Our crack team of analysts returns from the (virtual) IfG Christmas Party to discuss the successes and failures of a...

Can Boris Johnson get the country to stick to his plans for a Compact Christmas – or has he already blown the comms challenge? What has a year of lockdown and surveillance done to Britain’s liberal instincts? Plus, with the Brexit saga at least reaching the end of the beginning, how can Britain build a robust industrial strategy for the future without just throwing money about? Ed Conway, economic...

This is an audio recording of an IfG Live Event. Joe Biden is set to become the 46th US president. How will he deal with Coronavirus and the economy? What are his priorities internationally, and will he restore the US’s role in alliances? And what about the trade deal the UK wants so much, and relations with Boris Johnson, dubbed “Britain Trump” by the current occupant of the White House? On our p...

As EU trade talks go down to the wire of Transition’s end on Dec 31, was Boris Johnson and Ursula van der Leyen’s dinner a deux really the failed last chance to avoid No Deal? Does the EU Parliament have enough time to pass a new trade arrangements anyway? Does everything really depend on what Boris Johnson himself wants? And what happens if you want to take a ferret into the EU in 2021? Special g...

The world’s first green light for a COVID vaccine is a clear boost of the Government. But how can they ensure the right people take it without falling back on strong-arm tactics? Also, who’s rebelling against the Government’s COVID restrictions and why? Special guest Iain Dale – Conservative columnist and LBC presenter – explains how his new book The Prime Ministers names Britain’s good, bad and u...

In January, the government will be doing battle on two fronts: dealing with a likely disruptive end to the Brexit transition period as the UK faces a new trading relationship with the EU while the covid crisis is still raging. Even if the UK government is able to deploy and manage its resources effectively, local authorities and businesses may still be overwhelmed. In this podcast, we will conside...

With eyewatering sums spent on the COVID crisis and Britain facing the lowest growth since the 1700s, will Rishi Sunak’s spending review do enough to keep the public finances from meltdown? Will the public sector pay freeze really make a difference? And are the health risks of saving Christmas worth the potential political gain?  “This is a good year to have bad figures… If there was ever a year t...